One day in 2012, Jamie Mendez, Director of Channel Marketing at IBM PartnerWorld, decided that her problems with partner engagement needed a modern solution. She approached IBM's longtime agency-partner, the TDA group, to craft this solution.

What was the problem?

IBM needed a way to have various executives across multiple business units, with diverse voices of their own, engage its channel partners with a unified, consistent style of presentations. The resulting concert should blend the disparate voices into singing to the same tune, namely the consistent style and voice.

Sounds familiar?

This problem is not unique to IBM. Many other organizations, large and small, face this challenge. Perhaps yours does too.

What ensued from the 2012 brainstorming is the launch of a blog in 2013 and accolades and awards in each of the following years, 2014-2016, for this solution.

Reader engagement is plentiful. Praises for the design ("The new design is terrific. Very clean, easy to read...Kudos to the PartnerWorld team!" -Libby Beemer; "...modern, slick & readable. Excellent!" -Anthony Mathenge), content ("Nicely articulated! " -Swati Moran; "Thank you for sharing the link to the IBM Digital Marketplace. That’s a very helpful online resource." -David H. Deans), and the overall program ("Great Program - Can drive fast growth for our Channel Partners." -Marc Beachler) are abundant.

Come and hear how IBM PartnerWorld created a unified strategy with the help of TDA Group, to showcase an array of executive voices, engage the channel and fuel social networks – while also winning awards along the way that speak to B2B editorial and design excellence.

Jamie Mendez of IBM and Nicole Sommerfeld of TDA double team as featured speakers for this roundtable where they will talk about their joint project and lead the ensuing discussion.

In this session Jamie and Nicole will cover:

How to create a content forum where you can showcase a diverse array of individual voices while still maintaining overall cohesion and unity

A real-world, award-winning working example of a content forum that is driving results

Best practices and tips to take your blog to the next level

How to measure success for this type of initiative

Some lessons learned from content streams other than IBM PartnerWorld may sneak into the discussions as well!

The best part is that you can shape the session with your own incisive comments and questions.

The setting

This is part of our roundtable series with a happy hour setting. Registration covers one drink ticket and appetizers.

There is ample time to network both before and after the presentation and discussion.

Conveniently located in the historic Mountain View Caltrain station with ample free parking nearby.

We've had sell-out crowds for the past six roundtable events, and expect the same this time. Don't miss out, make sure you secure your seat!

Save the date, October 17, and register to attend the roundtable before you're left with no space!

Jamie Mendez has global responsibility for IBM’s PartnerWorld and channel program infrastructure initiatives.

PartnerWorld is the program management system framework for guiding IBM Business Partner relationships including the membership program, web portal, communications, education and events.

In her role, Jamie is responsible for supporting the PartnerWorld community of more than 160,000 Business Partners around the world who contribute nearly $15B in IBM revenue.

Nicole Sommerfeld oversees the account development and marketing team at TDA. She leads the effort to build upon and expand TDA client relationships and programs, while helping TDA’s clients adopt best practices and optimize marketing programs.

Prior to joining TDA, Nicole held marketing, product management, and corporate development roles with leading Internet and telecommunications companies.